China January manufacturing PMI got a boost, but still in contraction

The official PMIs from China are here from a little earlier:

• China official manufacturing PMI for January: 49.5 (vs. expected at 49.3)
• China non-manufacturing PMI (January): 54.7 (expected 53.8)

And, here is a view from Reuters of the results:

• China manufacturing and services PMIs earlier - recap

And, check this out from Bloomberg. they have an encouraging headline but the article itself is not so sanguine:

• China Manufacturing Shows Resilience Amid Trade War, Slowdown

The good:

• The gauge of new export orders rose to 46.9 from 46.6, indicating resilient external demand amid the trade war

The bad:

• conditions for factories continuing to worsen amid uncertainty over a U.S. trade deal

The … commentary:

• "January PMI was lifted by the front-loading of production before the Spring Festival and a relatively big issuance of municipal bonds and corporate bonds, both of which helped maintain demand," said Nie Wen, an economist at Huabao Trust in Shanghai. "The rebound will be a short-lived one"

More at the link.

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And, ps. the Spring Festival holiday starts on February 5 this year. Same day as the RBA meeting! Spooky ….